Terry Hutson
DURBAN'S CAR terminal near the T Jetty, with capacity for more than 4 000 motor vehicles at any one time, has had to hang the house full signs several times in recent weeks, and excess vehicles have had to be stored on the quayside behind heavy concentrations of razor wire.
As a result Portnet intends adding additional storeys onto the existing terminal, which was built as recently as 1997 as a ground level facility.
The terminal will then rise to three storeys, with provision for additional floors to be added in the future.
As an example of the sheer pressure on the car terminal, Mitsui OSK Line recently undertook the delivery of the first of an order of 16 000 BMW motor cars for export to the United States by car carrier. These were loaded on the MOL car carrier Noble Ace at R berth.
Previous deliveries of the 3-series BMW had been shipped to the North American continent as containerised cargo, but with this latest contract firmly in the belt Mitsui OSK will now operate fortnightly sailings from Durban to the USA via Europe. Tsuneo Kawahara, managing executive officer of Mitsui OSK Lines, flew to Durban to sign the contract and witness the first delivery. He told FTW that the order presented quite a challenge for Mitsui OSK.
Nobody expected to have a ro-ro service from here to the USA, but we have had much experience of doing business with Africa and it is only correct that we lead with this. The service, which we have called the Four Continents Express Services, rotates from Japan-SA-Europe-North America-South America-SA-Japan.
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